Digital watermarking

ABSTRACT

In one example, a method for inserting a digital watermark in a signal includes obtaining the signal comprising a plurality of frames, inserting a first digital watermark in a first frame of the plurality of frames, inserting a second digital watermark in a second frame of the plurality of frames, wherein the second digital watermark differs from the first digital watermark in at least one way selected from a group of: a location within a respective frame, a number of bits, a pattern of bits, and a number of bits of a noise, and outputting a watermarked signal including the first digital watermark in the first frame and the second digital watermark in the second frame.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/880,912, filed May 21, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,443,401, which isherein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates generally to data security, and relatesmore particularly to devices, non-transitory computer-readable media,and methods for digital watermarking.

BACKGROUND

Digital watermarks comprise specific types of markers that may beembedded in noise tolerant signals such as image, video, audio, or othersignals (generally “media signals”). The markers typically hideinformation in carrier signals that carry the media signals. Thus,digital watermarks are commonly used to protect streaming media againstunauthorized use and/or to verify the authenticity of the streamingmedia to users. As an example, multiple “screener” copies of a film thathas been nominated for an award may be distributed to voters who willvote on the award, and each screener copy may bear a different, uniquedigital watermark. Thus, if an unauthorized party comes into possessionof a screener copy, the screener copy can be traced back to the originalparty to whom the screener copy was provided based on the unique digitalwatermark, allowing the owners of the film to easily identify any pointsof compromise in the chain of distribution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present disclosure can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in which examples of the presentdisclosure for digital watermarking may operate;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for inserting adigital watermark in a stream of data, in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of a digital watermark that changeslocation from one frame to another frame within a signal; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a computing device, or computingsystem, specifically programmed to perform the steps, functions, blocks,and/or operations described herein.

To facilitate understanding, similar reference numerals have been used,where possible, to designate elements that are common to the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure broadly discloses methods, computer-readablemedia, and systems for inserting a digital watermark in a stream ofdata. In one example, a method for inserting a digital watermark in asignal includes obtaining the signal comprising a plurality of frames,inserting a first digital watermark in a first frame of the plurality offrames, inserting a second digital watermark in a second frame of theplurality of frames, wherein the second digital watermark differs fromthe first digital watermark in at least one way selected from a groupof: a location within a respective frame, a number of bits, a pattern ofbits, and a number of bits of a noise, and outputting a watermarkedsignal including the first digital watermark in the first frame and thesecond digital watermark in the second frame.

In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may storeinstructions which, when executed by a processing system in acommunications network, cause the processing system to performoperations. The operations may include obtaining the signal comprising aplurality of frames, inserting a first digital watermark in a firstframe of the plurality of frames, inserting a second digital watermarkin a second frame of the plurality of frames, wherein the second digitalwatermark differs from the first digital watermark in at least one wayselected from a group of: a location within a respective frame, a numberof bits, a pattern of bits, and a number of bits of a noise, andoutputting a watermarked signal including the first digital watermark inthe first frame and the second digital watermark in the second frame.

In another example, a device may include a processing system includingat least one processor and a non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring instructions which, when executed by the processing system whendeployed in a communications network, cause the processing system toperform operations. The operations may include obtaining the signalcomprising a plurality of frames, inserting a first digital watermark ina first frame of the plurality of frames, inserting a second digitalwatermark in a second frame of the plurality of frames, wherein thesecond digital watermark differs from the first digital watermark in atleast one way selected from a group of: a location within a respectiveframe, a number of bits, a pattern of bits, and a number of bits of anoise, and outputting a watermarked signal including the first digitalwatermark in the first frame and the second digital watermark in thesecond frame.

As discussed above, digital watermarks comprise specific types ofmarkers that may be embedded in noise tolerant signals such as image,video, audio, or other signals (generally “media signals”). The markerstypically hide information in carrier signals that carry the mediasignals. Thus, digital watermarks are commonly used to protect streamingmedia against unauthorized use and/or to verify the authenticity of thestreaming media to users. Unfortunately, conventional digital watermarkstend to be obvious and intrusive, especially in video media. Thepresence of a digital watermark may therefore be distracting from a userperspective (e.g., a viewer of watermarked film) and may undesirablycompromise the artistic integrity of the watermarked media from acreator perspective (e.g., a director of a watermarked film).

Moreover, even when the digital watermark is relatively unobtrusive, thedigital watermark may still fail to protect the watermarked media and/orthe users of the watermarked media. For instance, many digitalwatermarks can be easily replicated or even washed out of a media streamwhen the media stream is transmitted and presented without properauthorization. In addition, a party receiving a watermarked media may beunable to leverage the watermark as proof that the watermarked media hasnot been tampered with, due to a functional gap in software and/or in areference data transfer. The inability to verify that the watermarkedmedia has not been tampered with may leave the receiving partyvulnerable to software and other attacks.

Examples of the present disclosure provide a plurality of watermarkconcealment techniques that can be used in various permutations toconceal a digital watermark in a media. In one example, each of thewatermark concealment techniques involves varying some dimensionalcharacteristic of a signal containing the media over time. For instance,the location of the digital watermark within a frame of the signal, thenumber of bits of the digital watermark, the pattern of bits in thedigital watermark, and/or the number of bits of a noise obfuscating thedigital watermark may be varied over time in the signal (e.g., variedfrom one frame of the signal to another frame of the signal). Employinga combination of these concealment techniques may help to ensure thatthe digital watermark is difficult to detect (and, therefore, removefrom the signal). For instance, the greater the number of concealmenttechniques that are employed (e.g., the greater the number ofdimensional characteristics of the signal that are varied over time),the harder it will be to detect every instance of the digital watermarkin the signal. In further examples, the digital watermark may beencrypted to further guard against removal of the digital watermark fromthe signal.

A digital watermark of the present disclosure may be used in any of themanners that a conventional digital watermark may be used, includingcopyright protection, source tracking, broadcast monitoring, videoand/or audio authentication, fraud detection, identification cardsecurity, social network content management, and other applications.These and other aspects of the present disclosure are discussed ingreater detail below in connection with the examples of FIGS. 1-4 .

To further aid in understanding the present disclosure, FIG. 1illustrates an example system 100 in which examples of the presentdisclosure for digital watermarking may operate. The system 100 mayinclude any one or more types of communication networks, such as atraditional circuit switched network (e.g., a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN)) or a packet network such as an Internet Protocol (IP)network (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network), anasynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, a wired network, a wirelessnetwork, and/or a cellular network (e.g., 2G-5G, a long term evolution(LTE) network, and the like) related to the current disclosure. Itshould be noted that an IP network is broadly defined as a network thatuses Internet Protocol to exchange data packets. Additional example IPnetworks include Voice over IP (VoIP) networks, Service over IP (SoIP)networks, the World Wide Web, and the like.

In one example, the system 100 may comprise a core network 102. The corenetwork 102 may be in communication with one or more access networks 120and 122, and with the Internet 124. In one example, the core network 102may functionally comprise a fixed mobile convergence (FMC) network,e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network. In addition, the corenetwork 102 may functionally comprise a telephony network, e.g., anInternet Protocol/Multi-Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) backbonenetwork utilizing Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for circuit-switchedand Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony services. In oneexample, the core network 102 may include at least one applicationserver (AS) 104, at least one database (DB) 106, and a plurality of edgerouters 128-130. For ease of illustration, various additional elementsof the core network 102 are omitted from FIG. 1 .

In one example, the access networks 120 and 122 may comprise DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL) networks, public switched telephone network (PSTN)access networks, broadband cable access networks, Local Area Networks(LANs), wireless access networks (e.g., an IEEE 802.11/Wi-Fi network andthe like), cellular access networks, 3^(rd) party networks, and thelike. For example, the operator of the core network 102 may provide acable television service, an IPTV service, or any other types oftelecommunication services to subscribers via access networks 120 and122. In one example, the access networks 120 and 122 may comprisedifferent types of access networks, may comprise the same type of accessnetwork, or some access networks may be the same type of access networkand other may be different types of access networks. In one example, thecore network 102 may be operated by a telecommunication network serviceprovider (e.g., an Internet service provider, or a service provider whoprovides Internet services in addition to other telecommunicationservices). The core network 102 and the access networks 120 and 122 maybe operated by different service providers, the same service provider ora combination thereof, or the access networks 120 and/or 122 may beoperated by entities having core businesses that are not related totelecommunications services, e.g., corporate, governmental, oreducational institution LANs, and the like.

In one example, the access network 120 may be in communication with oneor more user endpoint devices 108 and 110. Similarly, the access network122 may be in communication with one or more user endpoint devices 112and 114. The access networks 120 and 122 may transmit and receivecommunications between the user endpoint devices 108, 110, 112, and 114,between the user endpoint devices 108, 110, 112, and 114, the server(s)126, the AS 104, other components of the core network 102, devicesreachable via the Internet in general, and so forth. In one example,each of the user endpoint devices 108, 110, 112, and 114 may compriseany single device or combination of devices that may comprise a userendpoint device. For example, the user endpoint devices 108, 110, 112,and 114 may each comprise a mobile device, a cellular smart phone, agaming console, a set top box, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, adesktop computer, an application server, a bank or cluster of suchdevices, and the like.

In one example, one or more servers 126 may be accessible to userendpoint devices 108, 110, 112, and 114 via Internet 124 in general. Theserver(s) 126 may be associated with Internet content providers, e.g.,entities that provide content (e.g., new, blogs, videos, music, files,or the like) in the form of websites to users over the Internet 124.Thus, some of the servers 126 may comprise content servers, e.g.,servers that store content such as images, text, video, and the likewhich may be served to web browser applications executing on the userendpoint devices 108, 110, 112, and 114 in the form of websites.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the AS 104 may be configuredto provide one or more operations or functions in connection withexamples of the present disclosure for digital watermarking, asdescribed herein. The AS 104 may comprise one or more physical devices,e.g., one or more computing systems or servers, such as computing system400 depicted in FIG. 4 , and may be configured as described below toinsert digital watermarks into media streams. It should be noted that asused herein, the terms “configure,” and “reconfigure” may refer toprogramming or loading a processing system withcomputer-readable/computer-executable instructions, code, and/orprograms, e.g., in a distributed or non-distributed memory, which whenexecuted by a processor, or processors, of the processing system withina same device or within distributed devices, may cause the processingsystem to perform various functions. Such terms may also encompassproviding variables, data values, tables, objects, or other datastructures or the like which may cause a processing system executingcomputer-readable instructions, code, and/or programs to functiondifferently depending upon the values of the variables or other datastructures that are provided. As referred to herein a “processingsystem” may comprise a computing device including one or moreprocessors, or cores (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 4 and discussedbelow) or multiple computing devices collectively configured to performvarious steps, functions, and/or operations in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

In one example, the AS 104 may be configured to retrieve media streamsfrom a storage device, such as the database (DB) 106. For instance, inone example, the media streams may include video streams (e.g., films,television shows, sports broadcasts, music videos, or the like), audiostreams (e.g., songs, podcasts, audio books, or the like), text streams(e.g., electronic books, legal documents, manuscript drafts, or thelike), sequences of images (e.g., slide shows, web sites, or the like),three-dimensional models (e.g., models of buildings in a 5G build-outarea, terrain maps, models for use in extended reality media, or thelike), holographic images, software updates, reference data updates,and/or other type types of media streams.

In one example, the AS 104 may apply one or more concealment techniquesthat vary some dimensional characteristic of a media stream beingwatermarked over time. For instance, the AS 104 may vary the location ofthe digital watermark within a frame of the media stream, the number ofbits of the digital watermark, the pattern of bits in the digitalwatermark, and/or the number of bits of a noise obfuscating the digitalwatermark over time in the media stream (e.g., varied from one frame ofthe media stream to another frame of the media stream). A combination ofthese concealment techniques may help to ensure that the digitalwatermark is difficult to detect (and, therefore, remove from the mediastream). For instance, the greater the number of concealment techniquesthat are employed (e.g., the greater the number of dimensionalcharacteristics of the media stream that are varied over time), theharder it will be to detect every instance of the digital watermark inthe signal. In further examples, the digital watermark may be encryptedto further guard against removal of the digital watermark from the mediastream. One specific example of a method for inserting digitalwatermarks into media streams is described in greater detail inconnection with FIG. 2 .

In one example, the AS 104 may output watermarked media streams to theDB 106. Thus, the DB 106 may store media streams both before the mediastreams are watermarked and after the media streams are watermarked. Inone example, the DB 106 may comprise a physical storage deviceintegrated with the AS 104 (e.g., a database server or a file server),or attached or coupled to the AS 104, in accordance with the presentdisclosure. In one example, the AS 104 may load instructions into amemory, or one or more distributed memory units, and execute theinstructions for watermarking media streams, as described herein.

It should be noted that the system 100 has been simplified. Thus, thoseskilled in the art will realize that the system 100 may be implementedin a different form than that which is illustrated in FIG. 1 , or may beexpanded by including additional endpoint devices, access networks,network elements, application servers, etc. without altering the scopeof the present disclosure. In addition, system 100 may be altered toomit various elements, substitute elements for devices that perform thesame or similar functions, combine elements that are illustrated asseparate devices, and/or implement network elements as functions thatare spread across several devices that operate collectively as therespective network elements.

For example, the system 100 may include other network elements (notshown) such as border elements, routers, switches, policy servers,security devices, gateways, a content distribution network (CDN) and thelike. For example, portions of the core network 102, access networks 120and 122, and/or Internet 124 may comprise a content distribution network(CDN) having ingest servers, edge servers, and the like. Similarly,although only two access networks, 120 and 122 are shown, in otherexamples, access networks 120 and/or 122 may each comprise a pluralityof different access networks that may interface with the core network102 independently or in a chained manner. For example, UE devices 108,110, 112, and 114 may communicate with the core network 102 viadifferent access networks, user endpoint devices 110 and 112 maycommunicate with the core network 102 via different access networks, andso forth. Thus, these and other modifications are all contemplatedwithin the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 200 for inserting adigital watermark in a stream of data, in accordance with the presentdisclosure. In one example, steps, functions and/or operations of themethod 200 may be performed by a device as illustrated in FIG. 1 , e.g.,AS 104 or any one or more components thereof. In one example, the steps,functions, or operations of method 200 may be performed by a computingdevice or system 400, and/or a processing system 402 as described inconnection with FIG. 4 below. For instance, the computing device 400 mayrepresent at least a portion of the AS 104 in accordance with thepresent disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the method 200 isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with an exampleperformed by a processing system, such as processing system 402.

The method 200 begins in step 202 and proceeds to step 204. In step 204,the processing system may obtain a signal comprising a plurality offrames. The signal may comprise a stream of data that is to be securedwith a digital watermark. For instance, in one example, the stream ofdata may comprise a video stream, where each frame of the pluralityframes comprises an individual video frame. In another example, thestream of data may comprise an audio stream, where each frame of theplurality of frames comprises an individual audio frame. In furtherexamples, the stream of data may comprise a stream of text, a sequenceof images, a three-dimensional model, a software update, a referencedata update, or another type of data. In one example, the stream of datamay be retrieved from a database that stores a plurality of streams ofdata. In another example, the stream of data may be uploaded directly tothe processing system.

In step 206, the processing system may insert a first digital watermarkin a first frame of the plurality of frames. In one example, the firstdigital watermark may comprise data that is inserted into the visualdata of the first frame. For instance, the first digital watermark maycomprise a pattern of bits that is inserted into the image portion of avideo frame. In another example, the first digital watermark maycomprise data that is inserted into the audio data of the first frame.For instance, the first digital watermark may comprise a pattern of bitsthat is inserted into the audio portion of the first frame.

In step 208, the processing system may insert a second digital watermarkin a second frame of the plurality of frames, where the second digitalwatermark differs from the first digital watermark in at least one wayselected from a group of: a location within the respective frame, anumber of bits, a pattern of bits, and a number of bits of a noise. Inone example, the second digital watermark may comprise data that isinserted into the visual data of the second frame. In another example,the second digital watermark may comprise data that is inserted into theaudio data of the second frame.

In one example, the first frame and the second frame may compriseconsecutive frames (e.g., the second frame may occur immediately afterthe first frame when the plurality of frames is played in sequence).However, in another example, the first frame and the second framecomprise nonconsecutive frames.

For instance, in one example, the location of the first digitalwatermark within the first frame may differ from the location of thesecond digital watermark within the second frame. As an example, thefirst digital watermark may be located in the bottom left corner of thefirst frame, while the second digital watermark may be located in thetop right corner of the second frame. In one example, the locationswithin the first frame and the second frame may be defined by pixelposition (e.g., where the first frame and the second frame contain anequal number of pixels arranged in the same dimensions).

In one example, the number of bits of the first digital watermark maydiffer from the number of bits of the second digital watermark. Forinstance, the first digital watermark may comprise a pattern of n bits,while the second digital watermark may comprise a pattern of at leastn+1 bits.

In one example, the pattern of the bits in the first digital watermarkmay differ from the pattern of the bits in the second digital watermark.For instance, the pattern of the bits in the first digital watermark maytake on a first shape and/or color, while the pattern of bits in thesecond digital watermark may take on a second shape and/or color that isdifferent from the first shape and/or color. As an example, if thestream of data is a video, and the first and second frames comprisefirst and second video frames depicting a person, the color of theperson's eyes could be varied as a watermark (e.g., such that theperson's eyes are brown in the first frame but green in the secondframe).

In one example, a number of bits of a noise (broadly an image noise suchas random variation of brightness and/or color information in the frame)obfuscating the first digital watermark in the first frame may differfrom a number of bits of a noise obfuscating the second digitalwatermark in the second frame. That is, a certain number of bits ofnoise may be introduced into a frame in a region of a digital watermarkin order to help the digital watermark “blend” into the frame. Forexample, such noise can be achieved by quantizing one or more pixels ofan image to a number of discrete levels as desired, but other noisegenerating techniques can be used such as Gaussian noise generation,random valued impulse noise generation and the like.

Thus, the processing system may watermark the signal by varying at leastone dimensional characteristic of the signal over time (e.g., over atleast some frames of the plurality of frames). In one example, thegreater the number of concealment techniques that are employed (e.g.,the greater the number of dimensional characteristics of the signal thatare varied over time), the harder it will be to detect every instance ofthe digital watermark in the signal. For instance, even if the firstdigital watermark is detected in the first frame, the variation of thedimensional characteristic(s) may ensure that the second digitalwatermark cannot be detected in the second frame based on the knowledgeof the first digital watermark alone.

In one example, the dimensional characteristic(s) that is varied is userdefined. However, in another example, the dimensional characteristic(s)that is varied is selected by the processing system. For instance, theprocessing system may select a dimensional characteristic or acombination of dimensional characteristics that is a good candidate forvariation. Good candidates may be identified based on image processingtechniques, audio processing techniques, optical character recognitiontechniques, and other types of techniques that may analyze specifictypes of data. For instance, varying a location of a digital watermarkmay be more effective in frames of video data than in frames of audiodata. Moreover, the content of the frames may also affect whichdimensional characteristics are best suited for variation for thepurposes of digital watermarking. For instance, a digital watermarkwhose pattern of bits varies over several frames of video data may beharder to detect when the video data comprises a relatively fast movingor visually dense scene (e.g., a car chase, a fight scene, an explosion,etc.). However, when the video data comprises a relatively slow movingor visually simple scene (e.g., a close-up on a character presenting amonologue), the same digital watermark may be easier to detect. Thus, inthe example of the relatively slow moving or visually simple scene, adifferent or additional dimensional characteristic may be varied to makethe digital watermark harder to detect, or these scenes may even be freeof watermarks to avoid having the watermarks being detected in suchrelatively slow moving or visually simple scenes.

In another example, rather than define the specific dimensionalcharacteristics to be varied, a user may instead define a desiredstrength of the digital watermark (e.g., where the stronger the digitalwatermark is, the more difficult the digital watermark is to detect).For instance, the strength of a digital watermark may be definedaccording a numerical scale (e.g., one to ten, with one being theweakest and ten being the strongest) or some other rubrics (e.g., easy(e.g., using one of five available watermarking techniques), medium(e.g., using three of five available watermarking techniques), anddifficult (e.g., using all five available watermarking techniques)).Based on the user selection, the processing system may select an optimalconcealment technique or combination of concealment techniques toproduce a watermark of the desired strength.

In optional step 210 (illustrated in phantom), at least one of the firstdigital watermark and the second digital watermark may be encrypted. Forinstance, the first digital watermark and/or the second digitalwatermark may be encrypted with at least one encryption scheme selectedfrom the group of: a static encryption key and algorithm, a complexblockchain algorithm, and a one-time pad. Within the context of thepresent disclosure, a “one-time pad” may be understood to refer to asequence of encryption keys and/or access codes which may be usedsequentially or in some defined order. The same encryption keys and/oraccess codes cannot be used again in the same order, hence why thetechnique is referred to as a “one-time” pad.

In step 212, the processing system may output a watermarked signalincluding the first digital watermark in the first frame and the seconddigital watermark in the second frame. For instance, the watermarkedsignal may be output to a database for storage, to a user endpointdevice for playback, or to another location.

The method 200 may end in step 214.

The method 200 may be implemented in any one or more of a number of waysin practice. For instance, method 200 could be used to insert awatermark into only one frame of a signal, into every frame of a signal,or into any number of frames between one and all frames of the signal.For instance, the method 200 could be used to insert digital watermarksinto a subset of frames (e.g., fewer than all frames) of a signal, wherethe frames in the subset may be selected randomly, periodically (e.g.,every x frames), or according to some quality or complexity of theframes (e.g., the visual data in some frames may provide for betterconcealment of the digital watermarks than the visual data in otherframes). Thus, the signal may include at least one frame (e.g., a thirdframe or more frames) that is free of watermarks.

For instance, a single digital watermark may comprise a particularpattern of bits. The pattern of bits may be broken into a plurality ofpieces, and the plurality of pieces may be distributed over a pluralityof frames of a signal (where the plurality of frames need notnecessarily be consecutive frames in the signal). Thus, each frame ofthe plurality of frames may contain a different piece of the pluralityof pieces of the digital watermark.

In another example, a digital watermark may comprise an entire frame ofa signal (e.g., the first digital watermark may comprise the entirety ofthe first frame). For instance, the frame comprising the digitalwatermark may be inserted between two original frames of the signal(where the two original frames may be unaltered or not directlywatermarked).

In further examples, a digital watermark may be content-driven (e.g.,integrated into the content of the frame being watermarked). Forinstance, as discussed above, a digital watermark may comprise changingan eye color of a person depicted in a video signal, in one or moreframes of the video signal.

Furthermore, the digital watermark need not necessarily comprise avisual watermark or include a visual component. That is, for acontent-driven digital watermark, any characteristic of the content ofthe signal may be a potential carrier for the digital watermark. Forinstance, the audio track of an audiovisual signal may carry a digitalwatermark, where the digital watermark may comprise one or more keywordsor sound.

It should be noted that the method 200 may be expanded to includeadditional steps or may be modified to include additional operationswith respect to the steps outlined above. In addition, although notspecifically specified, one or more steps, functions, or operations ofthe method 200 may include a storing, displaying, and/or outputting stepas required for a particular application. In other words, any data,records, fields, and/or intermediate results discussed in the method canbe stored, displayed, and/or outputted either on the device executingthe method or to another device, as required for a particularapplication. Furthermore, steps, blocks, functions or operations in FIG.2 that recite a determining operation or involve a decision do notnecessarily require that both branches of the determining operation bepracticed. In other words, one of the branches of the determiningoperation can be deemed as an optional step. Furthermore, steps, blocks,functions or operations of the above described method can be combined,separated, and/or performed in a different order from that describedabove, without departing from the examples of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of a digital watermark that changeslocation from one frame to another frame within a signal. For instance,an example signal may include a first frame 300 and a second frame 304,which may or may not be consecutive (e.g., the second frame 304 may ormay not occur immediately after the first frame 300). In one example,each of the first frame 300 and the second frame 304 may comprise thesame number of pixels. For the sake of example, each of the first frame300 and the second frame 304 is illustrated as comprising one hundredpixels arranged in ten rows and ten columns. For instance, the firstframe 300 includes pixels 302 ₁-302 ₁₀₀, while the second frame includespixels 306 ₁-306 ₁₀₀.

In one example, the first frame 300 includes a digital watermark (shownas a shaded pixel) at pixel 302 ₇₉, while the second frame 304 includesa digital watermark (again shown as a shaded pixel) at pixel 306 ₇₂. Thedigital watermark in the first frame 300 may be identical to the digitalwatermark in the second frame 304; that is, the only difference betweenthe digital watermarks in the first and second frames 300 and 304 may bethe locations of the digital watermarks within the respective frames.However, in other examples, other dimensional characteristics of thedigital watermarks (e.g., colors, patterns of bits, numbers of bits ofnoise, etc.) may also be varied to make detection of both digitalwatermarks more difficult.

Thus, according to the example of FIG. 3 , the pixel position of thedigital watermark may represent a numeric value. This approach may scalewell for higher resolution videos (which include greater numbers of bitsper frame). In another example, the numeric value may correspond to acolor (e.g., a red green blue color value) of the pixel.

FIG. 4 depicts a high-level block diagram of a computing device orprocessing system specifically programmed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. As depicted in FIG. 4 , the processing system 400comprises one or more hardware processor elements 402 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or a multi-core processor), amemory 404 (e.g., random access memory (RAM) and/or read only memory(ROM)), a module 405 for inserting a digital watermark in a stream ofdata, and various input/output devices 406 (e.g., storage devices,including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppy drive, a hard diskdrive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, a transmitter, a speaker, adisplay, a speech synthesizer, an output port, an input port and a userinput device (such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a microphone andthe like)). Although only one processor element is shown, it should benoted that the computing device may employ a plurality of processorelements. Furthermore, although only one computing device is shown inthe figure, if the method 200 as discussed above is implemented in adistributed or parallel manner for a particular illustrative example,i.e., the steps of the above method 200 or the entire method 200 isimplemented across multiple or parallel computing devices, e.g., aprocessing system, then the computing device of this figure is intendedto represent each of those multiple computing devices.

Furthermore, one or more hardware processors can be utilized insupporting a virtualized or shared computing environment. Thevirtualized computing environment may support one or more virtualmachines representing computers, servers, or other computing devices. Insuch virtualized virtual machines, hardware components such as hardwareprocessors and computer-readable storage devices may be virtualized orlogically represented. The hardware processor 402 can also be configuredor programmed to cause other devices to perform one or more operationsas discussed above. In other words, the hardware processor 402 may servethe function of a central controller directing other devices to performthe one or more operations as discussed above.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable gatearray (PGA) including a Field PGA, or a state machine deployed on ahardware device, a computing device or any other hardware equivalents,e.g., computer readable instructions pertaining to the method discussedabove can be used to configure a hardware processor to perform thesteps, functions and/or operations of the above disclosed method 200. Inone example, instructions and data for the present module or process 405for inserting a digital watermark in a stream of data (e.g., a softwareprogram comprising computer-executable instructions) can be loaded intomemory 404 and executed by hardware processor element 402 to implementthe steps, functions, or operations as discussed above in connectionwith the illustrative method 200. Furthermore, when a hardware processorexecutes instructions to perform “operations,” this could include thehardware processor performing the operations directly and/orfacilitating, directing, or cooperating with another hardware device orcomponent (e.g., a co-processor and the like) to perform the operations.

The processor executing the computer readable or software instructionsrelating to the above described method can be perceived as a programmedprocessor or a specialized processor. As such, the present module 405for inserting a digital watermark in a stream of data (includingassociated data structures) of the present disclosure can be stored on atangible or physical (broadly non-transitory) computer-readable storagedevice or medium, e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory, ROMmemory, RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive, device or diskette, andthe like. Furthermore, a “tangible” computer-readable storage device ormedium comprises a physical device, a hardware device, or a device thatis discernible by the touch. More specifically, the computer-readablestorage device may comprise any physical devices that provide theability to store information such as data and/or instructions to beaccessed by a processor or a computing device such as a computer or anapplication server.

While various examples have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of illustration only,and not a limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of any aspect of thepresent disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-describedexamples, but should be defined only in accordance with the followingclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: obtaining, by a processingsystem including at least one processor, a signal containing a media;inserting, by the processing system, a first digital watermark in afirst frame of the media; inserting, by the processing system, a seconddigital watermark in a second frame of the media, wherein the seconddigital watermark differs from the first digital watermark in at leastone way comprising at least one of: a number of bits, a pattern of bits,or a number of bits of a noise; and outputting, by the processingsystem, a watermarked signal containing the media including the firstdigital watermark in the first frame and the second digital watermark inthe second frame.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media comprisesa video media comprising a plurality of video frames including the firstframe and the second frame.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mediacomprises an audio media comprising a plurality of audio framesincluding the first frame and the second frame.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein the media comprises an image media comprising a plurality ofimage frames including the first frame and the second frame.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first frame and the second frame compriseconsecutive frames of a plurality of frames of the media.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the first frame and the second frame comprisenonconsecutive frames of a plurality of frames of the media.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the pattern of bits in the first digitalwatermark takes on a first shape, and the pattern of bits in the seconddigital watermark takes on a second shape that is different from thefirst shape.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the pattern of bits inthe first digital watermark takes on a first color, and the pattern ofbits in the second digital watermark takes on a second color that isdifferent from the first color.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, prior to the outputting: encrypting, by the processingsystem, at least one of: the first digital watermark or the seconddigital watermark.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the encryptingutilizes at least one of: a static encryption key and algorithm, acomplex blockchain algorithm, or a one-time pad.
 11. The method of claim1, wherein a third frame of the media is free of watermarks.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the pattern of bits is broken into aplurality of pieces, wherein a first piece of the plurality of pieces isinserted into the first frame as the first digital watermark and asecond piece of the plurality of pieces is inserted into the secondframe as the second digital watermark.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein the first digital watermark comprised an entirety of the firstframe.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first digital watermark isinserted into visual data of the first frame and the second digitalwatermark is inserted into visual data of the second frame.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first digital watermark is inserted intoaudio data of the first frame and the second digital watermark isinserted into audio data of the second frame.
 16. The method of claim 1,wherein the first frame and the second frame are randomly selected fromamong a plurality of frames of the media for insertion of the firstdigital watermark and the second digital watermark, respectively. 17.The method of claim 1, wherein the first digital watermark and thesecond digital watermark each comprise one piece of a larger digitalwatermark that has been broken into a plurality of pieces, wherein theplurality of pieces is distributed over a plurality of frames of themedia including the first frame and the second frame.
 18. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, whenexecuted by a processing system including at least one processor, causethe processing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:obtaining a signal containing a media; inserting a first digitalwatermark in a first frame of the media; inserting a second digitalwatermark in a second frame of the media, wherein the second digitalwatermark differs from the first digital watermark in at least one waycomprising at least one of: a number of bits, a pattern of bits, or anumber of bits of a noise; and outputting a watermarked signalcontaining the media including the first digital watermark in the firstframe and the second digital watermark in the second frame.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the firstframe and the second frame are randomly selected from among a pluralityof frames of the media for insertion of the first digital watermark andthe second digital watermark, respectively.
 20. A device comprising: aprocessing system including at least one processor; and a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed bythe processing system, cause the processing system to performoperations, the operations comprising: obtaining a signal containing amedia; inserting a first digital watermark in a first frame of themedia; inserting a second digital watermark in a second frame of themedia, wherein the second digital watermark differs from the firstdigital watermark in at least one way comprising at least one of: anumber of bits, a pattern of bits, or a number of bits of a noise; andoutputting a watermarked signal containing the media including the firstdigital watermark in the first frame and the second digital watermark inthe second frame.